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Justine Smith

'Every Movement Was Controlled': The Quiet Rise In Children Under Deprivation Of Liberty Orders
Social affairs
By Justine Smith
"Every Movement Was Controlled": The Quiet Rise In Children Under Deprivation Of Liberty Orders
There has been a 13-fold increase in the use of court orders that deny children freedom to move and associate in the last seven years. Justine Smith explores the reasons behind this huge increase in what are supposed to be emergency orders
Children In 'Supported Living' Are Paying The Price For A Broken Care System
Education
By Justine Smith
Children In 'Supported Living' Are Paying The Price For A Broken Care System
So-called ‘supported’ living for teenagers in care is supposed to be a last resort or final stepping stone to independence. But Justine Smith finds struggling councils are being financially incentivised to misuse the newly legal provision – and put children at risk
SEND Help: How children with special educational needs are being failed
Education
SEND Help: How children with special educational needs are being failed
Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) could face the axe under imminent education reforms. Parents are anxious – but they have not stopped hundreds of thousands of children with special needs being excluded by the system, finds Justine Smith in a special report.
Campaigners fear another missed opportunity to mend a broken care system
Education
By Justine Smith
Campaigners fear another missed opportunity to mend a broken care system
It was presented as landmark legislation, but as the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill enters the Lords Justine Smith finds campaigners scrambling to prevent what they fear is doomed to become another missed opportunity to mend a broken system
Inside The Special Educational Needs Crisis Forcing Councils Into Bankruptcy
Education
By Justine Smith
Inside The Special Educational Needs Crisis Forcing Councils Into Bankruptcy
A dramatic increase in children judged to have special educational needs has created another dysfunctional market driving councils into insolvency, reports Justine Smith
Profit and loss: How children's care is failing our most vulnerable
Communities
By Justine Smith
Profit and loss: How children's care is failing our most vulnerable
Demand is rising, costs are spiralling and profit-maximising private equity and sovereign wealth funds are piling in. The children’s care business is a huge policy failure that is dragging councils towards bankruptcy but, as Justine Smith reports, it is vulnerable children that are the real victims.

Illustrations by Tracy Worrall
Salvaging the future: why Britain must build sustainably
Environment
By Justine Smith
Salvaging the future: why Britain must build sustainably
Britain has a housing crisis but building our way out of it will make it still harder to meet climate change targets. Justine Smith explores what can be done to provide enough homes at the least environmental cost. Illustration by Tracy Worrall
Can Labour solve the local government funding crisis?
Communities
By Justine Smith
Can Labour solve the local government funding crisis?
“All political parties in opposition love local government – it’s what happens when they get into government that counts,” says Stephen Houghton, Barnsley council leader and chair of the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities (SIGOMA). 
Inside the 'barbaric' mental health units holding autistic adults and children
Health
By Justine Smith
Inside the "barbaric" mental health units holding autistic adults and children
Nearly 2,000 adults and hundreds of children with learning disabilities or autism are being held in mental health units, with an average stay of more than five years, despite repeated abuse scandals. Justine Smith reports
CAMHS crisis - the long wait for neuro assessments
Health
By Justine Smith
CAMHS crisis - the long wait for neuro assessments
In a follow up to our investigation in April, the House has learned thousands of children with suspected ADHD and autism are suffering “severe and irrevocable damage” to their futures, as they wait up to seven years for NHS help. Justine Smith reports.
Education Revolution - why aren't we teaching AI in schools?
Education
By Justine Smith
Education Revolution - why aren't we teaching AI in schools?
It’s becoming ever clearer that AI will shape every part of our future much sooner than we could have predicted, from how we work and live to how we fight disease and wage war. So why aren’t we teaching it in schools? Justine Smith reports. Illustrations by Tracy Worrall
Revealed: the postcode lottery in child and adolescent mental health care
Health
By Justine Smith
Revealed: the postcode lottery in child and adolescent mental health care
An FOI investigation by The House has uncovered a postcode lottery in child and adolescent mental health care, with some desperate young people waiting up to four years for help.